EP0702204B1 - Verfahren zur Auswertung von Siliziumscheiben - Google Patents

Verfahren zur Auswertung von Siliziumscheiben Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0702204B1
EP0702204B1 EP95114565A EP95114565A EP0702204B1 EP 0702204 B1 EP0702204 B1 EP 0702204B1 EP 95114565 A EP95114565 A EP 95114565A EP 95114565 A EP95114565 A EP 95114565A EP 0702204 B1 EP0702204 B1 EP 0702204B1
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Prior art keywords
microroughness
silicon wafers
wafers
silicon wafer
afm
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Expired - Lifetime
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EP95114565A
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English (en)
French (fr)
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EP0702204A2 (de
EP0702204A3 (de
Inventor
Ken Aihara
Yutaka Kitagawara
Takao Takenaka
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Shin Etsu Handotai Co Ltd
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Shin Etsu Handotai Co Ltd
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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01Q—SCANNING-PROBE TECHNIQUES OR APPARATUS; APPLICATIONS OF SCANNING-PROBE TECHNIQUES, e.g. SCANNING PROBE MICROSCOPY [SPM]
    • G01Q30/00—Auxiliary means serving to assist or improve the scanning probe techniques or apparatus, e.g. display or data processing devices
    • G01Q30/04—Display or data processing devices
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01B—MEASURING LENGTH, THICKNESS OR SIMILAR LINEAR DIMENSIONS; MEASURING ANGLES; MEASURING AREAS; MEASURING IRREGULARITIES OF SURFACES OR CONTOURS
    • G01B7/00—Measuring arrangements characterised by the use of electric or magnetic techniques
    • G01B7/34—Measuring arrangements characterised by the use of electric or magnetic techniques for measuring roughness or irregularity of surfaces
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10S977/00—Nanotechnology
    • Y10S977/84—Manufacture, treatment, or detection of nanostructure
    • Y10S977/849—Manufacture, treatment, or detection of nanostructure with scanning probe
    • Y10S977/852—Manufacture, treatment, or detection of nanostructure with scanning probe for detection of specific nanostructure sample or nanostructure-related property
    • Y10S977/854—Semiconductor sample

Definitions

  • This invention relates in general to a method of evaluating silicon wafers and more particularly to a method of evaluating the crystal quality near surface of silicon wafers by means of a microroughness analysis.
  • a silicon wafer used for manufacturing semiconductor integrated circuits has a device(s) formed on and near surface thereof.
  • the flatness of the surface, an active area of the device(s) is formed thereon, of the silicon wafer is crucial in both macroscopic and microscopic levels. As unevenness at the atomic level, called microroughness, is believed to be reflected by the crystal quality, this microroughness has been evaluated using various techniques.
  • microroughness of a silicon wafer surface gets worse after the treatment with a cleaning solution composed of aqueous solution of ammonium hydroxide (NH 4 OH) and hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ).
  • a cleaning solution composed of aqueous solution of ammonium hydroxide (NH 4 OH) and hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ).
  • NH 4 OH ammonium hydroxide
  • H 2 O 2 hydrogen peroxide
  • An atomic force microscope hereafter referred to as "AFM”
  • STM scanning tunnelling microscope
  • An AFM detects the microscopic forces between atoms and a probe, typically van der Waals forces, and detects changes in such forces due to minute differences in the distances between atoms and the probe to determine the surface unevenness.
  • AFM Since an AFM is capable of very accurately measuring unevenness without destruction of the surface of the specimen, it is ideal for measuring the microroughness.
  • the microroughness obtained by AFM is usually represented by RMS (root mean square), P-V (peak to valley) and so on.
  • RMS root mean square
  • P-V peak to valley
  • Ra is a microroughness evaluation similar to RMS, as shown in the following equation: Where x denotes:
  • the evaluation method described above takes measurements in a scanning area of a prescribed size at several points.
  • RMS value is shown to change differently depending on the types of silicon crystals when the microroughness measurements are carried out on a silicon wafer using different sizes of scanning area.
  • Figure 3 shows the relationship between the size of the scanning area (horizontal axis) and RMS (vertical axis) in the evaluation method described above.
  • the samples represented by circles have a haze level of 7 (BIT) without a heat treatment
  • the samples represented by squares have a haze level of 16 (BIT) with 20 minutes of a heat treatment at 1000°C
  • the samples represented by triangles have a haze level of 107 (BIT) with several hours of a heat treatment at 1100°C.
  • "Haze level” is an indicator of the microroughness obtained by an optical method, and a larger haze level values indicates more rough surface.
  • the RMS value changes depending on the size of the scanning area and a good correlation with the haze level cannot be obtained.
  • the evaluation method described above has to be a microroughness evaluation based on RMS or Ra using a certain fixed size of the scanning area.
  • a RMS microroughness evaluation with a fixed size of the scanning area is not an appropriate evaluation of the crystal quality because it is not comprehensive. That is, because the scanning area of the AFM measurement is very small, it is difficult to grasp the silicon surface configuration with a calculation method such as RMS.
  • the microroughness of a silicon wafer surface affects the dielectric breakdown properties of an oxide layer.
  • the evaluation of dielectric breakdown properties with a fabricating MOS structure on a silicon wafer surface requires complicated and time consuming process such as oxidation or formation of electrodes.
  • the object of the present invention is to solve the problems described above and its objective is to detect with high sensitivity changes in the surface configuration of a silicon wafer and thus to provide a method of evaluating the crystal quality of silicon wafers.
  • An arbitrary number mentioned above is not limited in particular, but a number which is 2 or more and allows processing with a computer would be practical.
  • Said silicon wafers should preferably be treated with a cleaning solution composed of ammonium hydroxide (NH 4 OH), hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) and water before said measurement with the AFM is conducted.
  • a cleaning solution composed of ammonium hydroxide (NH 4 OH), hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) and water before said measurement with the AFM is conducted.
  • the ratio of NH 4 OH : H 2 O 2 : H 2 O in said cleaning solution should preferably be 1 : 1 : 5.
  • the present invention is focused on the periodicity of the microroughness on a silicon wafer surface revealed by the AFM measurement, uses the autocorrelation function to observe the surface configuration between each silicon crystal and thus evaluates the crystal quality.
  • microroughness has not been studied at all. However, the inventors discovered that the microroughness has a periodic nature. Consequently, although the microroughness has been believed to be random unevenness, it has become possible, by analyzing the correlation between each unevenness using the autocorrelation function, to evaluate the microroughness in the atomic level measured by an AFM as a periodic function.
  • Figure 1 is a graph showing the periods of the microroughness and relative power for wafers with the low pulling speed.
  • Figure 2 is a graph showing the periods of the microroughness and relative power for wafers with the high pulling speed.
  • Figure 3 is a graph showing the relationship between the size of the scanning area and RMS in the evaluation of the microroughness of silicon wafers using RMS of the AFM measurements.
  • the horizontal axis of Figure 1 and Figure 2 represents the correlation distance, i.e. the period of the microroughness
  • the vertical axis represents the value of the autocorrelation function R j , i.e. the strength of correlation for that period.
  • R j the autocorrelation function
  • a stronger correlation indicates that the microroughness at specific period gets worse more greatly.
  • the microroughness of its correlation distance being 400 nm or less gets worse much more rapidly in the case of the wafers grown by high pulling speed.
  • the microroughness of any typical period show no aggravation in the case of the wafers grown by low pulling speed. This is believed to indicate that the wafers grown by the low pulling speed are harder to be etched upon by said cleaning solution and have a a relatively good crystal quality.
  • the present invention by taking the periodicity of the microroughness on a silicon wafer into account, can detect with high sensitivity changes in the surface configuration of the silicon wafer which could not be detected with conventional methods and makes it possible to evaluate the crystal quality near the surface of the silicon wafer.
  • the present invention also allows acquisition of information about periods of the microroughness developed due to a treatment using a cleaning solution comprising a mixed aqueous solution of ammonium hydroxide and hydrogen peroxide. The evaluation can be done in a relatively short period of time without complicated procedures such as are required in the evaluation of the dielectric breakdown voltage of an oxide layer.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Nuclear Medicine, Radiotherapy & Molecular Imaging (AREA)
  • Radiology & Medical Imaging (AREA)
  • Testing Or Measuring Of Semiconductors Or The Like (AREA)
  • Length Measuring Devices By Optical Means (AREA)
  • Cleaning Or Drying Semiconductors (AREA)
  • Investigating Materials By The Use Of Optical Means Adapted For Particular Applications (AREA)

Claims (3)

  1. Verfahren zum Bewerten von Siliciumwafern, bei dem die Kristallqualität von Siliciumwafern bewertet wird durch Messen der Höhe xi (i = 1, 2, ..., N) einer Vielzahl von Meßpunkten auf der Hauptebene eines Siliciumwafers von einer Referenzebene aus mittels eines Atomkraftmikroskops (nachfolgend als "AFM" bezeichnet), Bestimmen der Autokorrelationsfunktion Rj, wie angegeben durch
    Figure 00140001
    worin x bedeutet:
    Figure 00140002
    Auswählen einer beliebigen Zahl der Autokorrelationsfunktion Rj mit großem Wert aus der Autokorrelationsfunktion Rj, und Analysieren der Mikrorauhigkeit auf dem Siliciumwafer basierend auf den Abständen zwischen dem Punkt Rj=0 und den gewählten Punkten Rj's mit großem Wert, mit Ausnahme von Rj=0.
  2. Verfahren zum Bewerten von Siliciumwafern nach Anspruch 1, wobei die Siliciumwafer mit einer Reinigungslösung, zusammengesetzt aus Ammonionhydroxid (NH4OH), Wasserstoffperoxid (H2O2) und Wasser, behandelt werden, bevor die Messung mit dem AFM durchgeführt wird.
  3. Verfahren zum Bewerten von Siliciumwafern nach Anspruch 2, wobei das Verhältnis von NH4OH:H2O2:H2O in der Reinigungslösung 1:1:5 beträgt.
EP95114565A 1994-09-16 1995-09-15 Verfahren zur Auswertung von Siliziumscheiben Expired - Lifetime EP0702204B1 (de)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP24845894 1994-09-16
JP6248458A JP3055598B2 (ja) 1994-09-16 1994-09-16 シリコンウエーハの評価方法
JP248458/94 1994-09-16

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0702204A2 EP0702204A2 (de) 1996-03-20
EP0702204A3 EP0702204A3 (de) 1996-07-31
EP0702204B1 true EP0702204B1 (de) 1999-11-24

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EP95114565A Expired - Lifetime EP0702204B1 (de) 1994-09-16 1995-09-15 Verfahren zur Auswertung von Siliziumscheiben

Country Status (4)

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US (1) US5533387A (de)
EP (1) EP0702204B1 (de)
JP (1) JP3055598B2 (de)
DE (1) DE69513474D1 (de)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6798526B2 (en) 2002-09-12 2004-09-28 Seh America, Inc. Methods and apparatus for predicting oxygen-induced stacking fault density in wafers

Families Citing this family (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6023338A (en) * 1996-07-12 2000-02-08 Bareket; Noah Overlay alignment measurement of wafers
JP4368454B2 (ja) 1999-05-31 2009-11-18 協和発酵ケミカル株式会社 アルコールの製造法
US6552337B1 (en) * 1999-11-02 2003-04-22 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Methods and systems for measuring microroughness of a substrate combining particle counter and atomic force microscope measurements
US6275293B1 (en) 2000-05-10 2001-08-14 Seh America, Inc. Method for measurement of OSF density
US20050275850A1 (en) * 2004-05-28 2005-12-15 Timbre Technologies, Inc. Shape roughness measurement in optical metrology
US8284394B2 (en) 2006-02-09 2012-10-09 Kla-Tencor Technologies Corp. Methods and systems for determining a characteristic of a wafer
US8494802B2 (en) * 2008-06-19 2013-07-23 Kla-Tencor Corp. Computer-implemented methods, computer-readable media, and systems for determining one or more characteristics of a wafer
JP5357509B2 (ja) 2008-10-31 2013-12-04 株式会社日立ハイテクノロジーズ 検査装置、検査方法および検査装置の校正システム
CN103630708A (zh) * 2013-11-26 2014-03-12 河北同光晶体有限公司 一种辨别碳化硅晶片硅碳面的方法

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5476006A (en) * 1992-07-07 1995-12-19 Matsushita Electronics Corporation Crystal evaluation apparatus and crystal evaluation method
JPH0642953A (ja) * 1992-07-24 1994-02-18 Matsushita Electric Ind Co Ltd 原子間力顕微鏡
US5308974B1 (en) * 1992-11-30 1998-01-06 Digital Instr Inc Scanning probe microscope using stored data for vertical probe positioning
JPH06248458A (ja) 1993-02-23 1994-09-06 Hitachi Ltd プラズマ処理装置およびその装置を用いた磁気ディスク製造方法

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6798526B2 (en) 2002-09-12 2004-09-28 Seh America, Inc. Methods and apparatus for predicting oxygen-induced stacking fault density in wafers

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EP0702204A2 (de) 1996-03-20
JP3055598B2 (ja) 2000-06-26
DE69513474D1 (de) 1999-12-30
JPH0888257A (ja) 1996-04-02
US5533387A (en) 1996-07-09
EP0702204A3 (de) 1996-07-31

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